heaven's crows
by pizza frustration
Summary: He was a supposed murderer and rapist - and a monster the townspeople feared. Yet no matter the rumours swirling around this mysterious boy, Rin could not help but find herself simply infatuated with him, a boy with the appearance of an angel. / RinLen. other pairings to come. possibly a fourshot now.
1. Chapter 1

**a/n **warning this sucks I'm sry and it's long and it is has been written so badly with varying degrees of ability because this is actually something I started like way last year when I was like 14 and even the stories I've written when I was 13 have better pacing than this *sweats*

I can't write fantasy without making it really shitty and what's worse is that this is somehow super long and I haven't I don't even intentionally? usually when I try making something more than 1,000 words it's like _the poison for kuzco. the poison chosen specially to kill kuzco. kuzco's poison._ and then you add a really bad incestuous plot twist in the background that's like nononononono it's like all the horrible other things I've written that have exceeded more than 1,000 words aghghghghhghhghhgggh (you see how I work now?)

I hope I turned you off now before you waste you're life reading the biggest cancer like I even went to the effort of doing an author's note at the beginning of the story

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This isn't how it's supposed to be.

His sister's once lively and vibrant eyes—filled with tears of pain and despair. Her glowing, rosy skin is now the colour of death. No longer are her plump lips curved up into her cheeky grin—they're now lines, just moving, gasping and hoping for life—life that he can't just simply give. The boy lets out a cry of loss, bowing over her, reaching out to pull her close to his chest.

No. He can't lose her. He _can't_. She's his. She's his _sister_ and his sister _can't die_. They _don't die_. So why… _why_…?

Blood stains his fingertips. Its metallic smell hits his nose and his insides cringe. He wants to _scream_, he wants to _puke_, he wants to purge of every sin inside his body. He's gross. He's disgusting. _He should die_. Why… why did he…?

The boy presses his lips against her forehead and lays her back down on the blood-covered ground gently, smoothing his fingers through her golden, matted locks.

He watches as she takes her last breath—her last breath of life.

_I'm sorry_.

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heaven's crows

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"Rin! Rin, where are you?"

Her mother's voice rings out clear and resonant from the front porch. A blonde mop of hair emerges out of the garden on the sound of Rin's name been called. "Oh, there you are! I didn't see you. Lunch is ready, so you should come inside now and take a break," her mother, Lily, says, on seeing her daughter's head pop up. Rin nods briefly, patting off her dirt-stained dress and wiping the sweat from her face, dropping the spade onto the dirt. She stops to examine her work—she's planted several sunflower seeds, as well as roses and marigolds in hope they grow for her amusement. But they probably will die, since the weather is awful.

The girl gives a harrumph in triumph at her work, before quickly hurrying inside to her cosy home afore Lily appears again and gets upset. She doesn't notice her favourite ribbon dropping from her golden locks and disappearing amongst the luminescent blades of grass.

A hand quickly reaches out and retrieves it, unnoticed.

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Her crystalline blue eyes search the grey sky outside the window. Honeyama never has sunny, blue skies or nice, warm, summer weather. It's just cold, grey and cloudy. And white in the winter.

Rin's shoulder is prodded by one of her friend's fingers. "Rin? Hey, Rin?" one, Miku, nags. Rin turns her head slowly to face her friends, blinking her eyes sleepily. They seem to all stare at her, wondering why she isn't being so sociable and contributing to their gossip session.

"Mm?" she replies.

Miku twists a strand of teal hair around her finger, glancing back at her other friends gingerly. "Have you heard of Karasushounen?" she asks.

Rin tilts her head. "Karasushounen? Hmm, no…"

Her friends' mouths drop open. "Really? I thought you would've, since you live closest to Hane Forest…" another friend, Luka, reasons while frowning, "…and apparently Karasushounen hides there."

"Who is he?" Rin queries, quirking an eyebrow, disinterested. "What's so important about him? Is he best friends with crows or something?"

Her friends shake their heads simultaneously. "It's rumoured that he's cursed… He's a cursed boy with wings… He's immortal—lives forever—and apparently raped and killed his sister," Miki mentions. "Whoever goes into that forest alone, he goes absolutely skitzo and eats their brains. And sometimes rapes them if they look like his sister."

Rin can't help but force out a laugh of amusement and disbelief. It sounds like one of those scary stories you tell when you're at sleepovers, trying to scare the living daylights out of their friends. Additionally, Miki tends to exaggerate things too much anyway… and this 'Karasushounen', she's never heard of him—or _seen _him—and she's supposedly gone past the border of Hane Forest before. Miku, Luka and Miki all frown.

"You guys… That sounds a bit too much of a tall tale. If there was such thing as him, I'm pretty sure he doesn't eat people's brains. It's impossible for human's to have wings, anyway." She smiles dismissively at her friends, who shake their heads at her furiously in disagreement.

"No way! There have been sightings of him and everything! There are even records of him being alive—his sister, too—and apparently, they're– uh, _he's_ the last of their kind, 'winged people' or _Alati_," Miku argues. "Seriously, go to the library—they have heaps of books on that stuff."

Rin shrugs her shoulders. She finds it weird everyone else knows about this thing… but her. "Fine, I will." Psh, it's probably like, those fake documentary kind of things—similar to what they do with fairies and all that stuff…

And she does go to the library eventually, because if she doesn't her friends will chuck a hissy fit.

She finds herself immersed in books of books, reading away in the library on Friday afternoon. Maybe she's ignorant or just plain stupid for not hearing of these 'Alati' people; because there's _so much_ information about this kind… it's hardly believable. Fake documents or not—the books are filled with photographs, diagrams, interviews, scientific explanations and paragraphs and paragraphs of the Alati and she finds herself staying until six o'clock, when she finally gets kicked out of the library because it has to close.

The walk home is brief and quiet, since Honeyama is such a small town. It's relaxing in a way, and Rin likes it—she likes the quietness and cosiness of it all. It's much more relieving, as opposed to the frantic streets of Tokyo or Osaka.

When Rin approaches up the stairs of the front porch of her house, she notices something white tied around the railing, gently fluttering in the breeze. Her fingers reach out and grab it, before she recognises the white ribbon she lost on the weekend. Strange. She doesn't remember tying it around the railing… and how could she have not noticed that before?

Ignoring the confusion, she sidles inside, with an eerie feeling that someone—or _something_—is watching her.

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Rin's asked and asked about him, she wants to know who he is—if he's really 'so bad'. Maybe he's just _lonely_. Maybe it's all a _misunderstanding_.

For one, he apparently has blonde hair and piercing blue eyes—he's attractive, very attractive—which is what deceptively lures people into the forest. His twin sister's body was found by a traveller—apparently she had been stabbed multiple times. And she was naked. (Maybe Alati don't have clothes?) Their parents were murdered in the Alati Revolt seventy years ago—which has been covered by the government to try and supress people from finding out information about them. Both siblings had changed their names after that and had taken refuge in Hane Forest to hide away from humans, fearing they'd both be killed. Rin can't help but feel sorry for them.

—For him. He's must get… so lonesome.

She wants to find him. She's fascinated. But he hasn't been sighted in five years—and there are more rumours saying that he was captured and murdered, or he committed suicide. But something tells her he hasn't. He's still alive—just hiding for his own safety. She's determined to catch him once—to meet him. Not because she wants to get raped, though—hopefully she looks ugly enough it's the last thought on his mind.

Rin finds herself venturing closer and closer to Hane Forest every day as she walks home from school, hoping she can get a glimpse of him—or find evidence of his presence, like the supposed shimmering, white feather from his wings.

At the same time, she notices her flowers are growing—weirdly enough, considering it's been cloudy for at least a month straight. Maybe there are some magical nutrients in the soil. _Or maybe something else is allowing them to grow._

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Her feet are sitting just on the border, about to step in. She hesitates. It's still dangerous, going into Hane Forest alone. There are other things, besides Karasushounen, that can harm her (not saying that Karasushounen _would_ harm her, it just might be a bunch of poppycock)—for example, snakes or spiders... And she doesn't need another lecture from her mother to avoid entering the forest—that's if, she comes out alive again, anyway.

Rin sucks in a breath and strides into the woodland, immersing herself into the tall trees and earthy smell. Her hands are clammy and her stomach is fluttering nervously. Her deep, azure eyes flit across her surroundings for any trouble as she progresses cautiously. Soon, the opening of the forest is gone, and it's just her—alone, in the forest—with the creepy-crawlies and god-knows-what else. A few leaves rustle nearby and she jumps, whipping her head around to see it's just a lizard. She breathes a sigh of relief she didn't realise she had been holding.

Eventually, her legs grow tired and she stops, crouching down. She doesn't know where she is—or what she's doing—and she's lost. She's lost. Great. She'll probably die here. Just what she wished for. Man, she never gets her motives or anything such.

Rin finds her eyes pooling with tears and she whimpers, wiping her face quickly with her sleeve. What has she gotten herself into? This is pointless. Alati and Karasushounen don't exist—and everything she's read or ever heard of is a big load of bull. _As if_ people have wings, for god's sake!

She pulls herself together and stands up, clenching her fists. She's read about survival instincts before—like when she's lost—and apparently she's supposed to get to high ground so she can find the nearest exit. Her eyes fall on a very branchy tree nearby and she nods, as if approving it, before progressing towards it hastily.

Climbing trees has been something Rin has never bothered taking an interest in—mainly because she suffers from a phobia of falling and bugs—but her life is in danger, so she needs to do it… or else.

Just as she wraps her arms around the lowest branch in reach and hoists herself up, the sound of movement from behind her makes her pause. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice remarks from behind her and she frets, quickly dropping—almost falling—from the branch, turning to see a boy with blue hair standing behind her.

Her blood runs cold when she notices the scar running across his cheek—and the pure white wings on his back.

Could he be…?

Rin flushes. "W-w-what–" she stutters, "W-who are you? And why n-not?" She finds herself backing up against the tree's trunk, her heart pounding in her chest.

The blue-haired boy stares, frowning. "Well, firstly, you were about to face-plant the bees nest above. And secondly, _he _would probably get upset if he saw you climbing that."

She notices that he didn't answer her first question. Not that it was very important, but… "U-oh… who's 'he'?" she asks in a small voice.

"Well, it depends on what you're asking," the boy states. "Are you asking for his name or who he is?"

"Isn't that the same thing?" Rin squeaks.

He scowls. "No."

"Uh…" Rin can't help but feel stupid. "Then… what's his name?"

"Len."

"Oh." She looks down at her feet, wondering why that name sounds so familiar. "Um… is he… is he like you? An Alati?"

The boy sighs impatiently. "Do idiotic humans like you come into the forest often?"

She tries her best not to look offended, rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably. "No… they're all scared of… uh…" Her voice grows quiet, "They're scared of their brains being eaten by … uh, Karasushounen." When she looks back up at the boy, his eyes have gone wide and his skin has grown pale. Rin frowns. "Um, do you know Karasushounen?"

Her question is left unanswered. The blue-haired male backs away slowly and at the same time, there's movement in Rin's peripheral vision. She turns her head just to see another boy—only slightly taller than her, with light, flaxen hair and sharp sapphire eyes—and he has wings. He has wings—large and beautiful, white wings—that stretch out from his backbone and span out, curling around the top half of his body defensively. Her stomach drops. Long, dark lashes flicker to her as she gasps, but they quickly refocus on the other boy.

It's him… it _has _to be him.

'Karasushounen' parts his lips to speak and asks, "Kaito, why is she here…?"

Shivers run down Rin's spine. His voice is mellifluous—beautiful and mysterious.

'Kaito' swallows. "She… she came in here by herself. She was about to climb that tree when I stopped her."

"That's a stupid reason," the boy states bluntly, glancing over at Rin again and studying her carefully, "Why are you here, if I'm supposedly to eat people's brains?" He had heard the last part of their conversation. So he is Karasushounen.

Rin struggles to find a voice. "I-I-I… was curious… and stupid…" She adds mentally, '_Please don't hurt me._'

Karasushounen—Len—stays silent, still scrutinising her. His penetrating gaze makes her feel as if she's being seen naked—like he's reading every thought, every memory, _every feeling_ that's a part of her at this moment. Kaito clears his throat awkwardly. "Len, do you know her?" he asks into the silence.

Len moves his gaze from Rin, frowning. "I know her, yes, she lives by the forest. I don't think she's harmful to us. Look at her; she's trembling like a frightened puppy." He gestures to her arms and Rin blushes, biting her bottom lip. Should she run? They seem to be talking about her like she's their dinner. And Rin… would prefer not to be anyone's dinner. Not tonight, anyway.

Kaito nods slowly. "Do you want me to take her back to the forest exit?"

The blonde boy's gaze hardens. "No, I'll do it myself. Just check the forest perimeter for me, if possible, and call the others in." '_There are others…?_' Rin wonders, widening her eyes slightly. The other boy nods again and disappears almost instantly, leaving Rin slightly confused.

The two teenagers stand together in a silence as the trees about them rustle. It's grown dark—and Rin wonders if her mother is looking for her. Will she even see her mother again? Should she trust this strange 'Len' boy, rumoured for being a murderer and a rapist, as he wants to escort her from the forest? She frowns, rubbing her arms. The hairs on the back of her neck prickle and she grows anxious, the butterflies in her stomach increasing.

"Are you alright?" It's his voice again—softer in tone from the last time he spoke. She turns to see he's moved closer, but still keeping a reasonable distance from her, while gazing at her with a concerned look in his eyes. "Did he say or do anything to you?"

Rin shakes her head. "I-I'm fine," she squeaks. "Just… I'm in trouble for doing this, aren't I?" The question slips from her mouth and her eyes widen, a deep shade of scarlet etching across her features. Len stares, a strange expression on his face.

"No. But I do not understand why you came here, if there are so many rumours about the threats in this forest. And your mother—she must have warned you about not coming here, no? The forest is dangerous to venture alone." A nostalgic expression flashes in his eyes, but it quickly disappears and he steps forward again, reaching out his hand for her to grasp. "And you don't even know your way around."

"I-I wanted to see… whether Alati existed or not. And I wanted to see… if you did, too," she replies, hesitantly placing her hand in his palm. He stares at her.

"Why, because I'm apparently the son of the devil?" he asks with a cold smile. It makes Rin regret saying anything.

She gapes a bit. "W-well, yes, but I wanted to know whether you were actually that bad or not, because…" She shrugs, feeling her ears turn red. "Because I'm interested in you," she splutters hastily, looking away. Len says nothing as he starts to lead her through the forest, weaving in and out of the trees.

"What makes me interesting?" he asks after a while.

Rin bites her lip. "Well… you have wings…" she points out awkwardly and the corners of his lips twitch. "And I didn't believe you were a murderer, or ate people's brains, or you raped and killed your sister, for the matter…"

He drops her hand like it's on fire and stops walking, snapping his head to her. His eyes are narrowed into slits, the blood draining from his face. "Raped and killed…" he whispers, "my _sister…?_"

Rin freezes, feeling her blood run cold. "I-it was a rumour. My friends were probably just exaggerating, but… there were reports that you had a sister, right?"

Len's jaw clenches. "Yes?"

"And she apparently died, am I right?" He nods stiffly, his eyes searching the ground below their feet, "Well, there was another report… that someone had found your sister's corpse _naked _–"

"I didn't rape her," he spits harshly. "I found her that way, moments before she died. Someone else had attacked her and taken advantage of her illness." Len shoots Rin a look that almost reads, '_You should know that._'

"She was ill?" Rin echoes in a small voice.

Len nods, not saying a word.

"So that's why…" Rin continues awkwardly, "People assumed you raped her or something."

Her words are followed by a great length of silence as Len starts to move again, his head bowed down. Rin can't help but feel guilt and regret. Maybe she should have just kept her mouth shut—or lied to him—for the better. She's startled out of her shame when Len starts to speak again. "I killed him," he mutters.

"K-killed who?" she asks, blanching.

Len lifts his gaze, a pained expression on his face. "I killed the man who hurt her in revenge out of pure anger in front of her," he states. "But that did not make me feel any better. What matters is that… I have his and her blood on my hands… and I have sinned. I sinned and I should die. I'm not worthy of white wings, or anything." His voice softens and he closes his eyes, allowing a few tears drip down his cheeks. Rin has the urge to hug him, but stays put, watching him quietly… because that would be really weird. "She saw me kill someone just before she died. She saw me with her very eyes. She must think I am disgusting, I am fowl. I _am _fowl."

Rin reaches out and touches his arm without thinking. He flinches slightly, like he felt a strange electrical spark rush between them. "She would have understood, wouldn't she? It would hurt so much… to lose someone you love…" she says gently. Len's eyes flicker to hers and they stare at each other in silence.

"Why do you have to pity me? Should you not be disgusted?" he asks.

She frowns. "Why would I be disgusted? That was the past, wasn't it? It's none of my business to judge."

"Yes…" he sighs, "But… I am disgusting. Can't you see it? The sin, tainting me?"

Rin blinks, scrutinising his features. "Well, if I _can_ see it, sin must be pretty attractive." There she goes again; firing off stupid remarks with her mouth. She's an idiot.

Len's ears turn bright red—even she can see it in the moonlight—and he looks away, shaking his head. "She… the sin, even _before that_, it was there…"

She tilts her head. "Did you kill someone before then?" Rin asks innocently.

His dark, sapphire eyes narrow as he turns to her hastily and places a hand on her shoulder, gazing very intently into her eyes. "My love for her was immoral, Rin," he hisses. "I loved her wrongly and her death was my punishment."

Rin's mouth runs dry, but not because of the fact he just stated. "How do you know my name?" she asks, her voice going unusually high. She doesn't remember telling him anything about her…

Len's hand falls off her shoulder and he stops abruptly, ignoring her as he gazes into the distance. "There's the exit. You should go, because I believe your mother would have called the police by now… and we do not need them following into the forest after us."

Rin frowns. "O-okay. Thank you, er…"

"Len," he corrects, before hesitating. He hastily grabs her hand and lays a kiss on the tips of her fingers. "I know your name because I heard your mother calling it one day."

With that, Len drops her hand and disappears into the darkness, leaving her standing alone.

Her heart is beating strangely.

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Her thoughts seemed to be occupied with Len, keeping her from concentrating too much on the weekend. Strange, she knows. Being obsessed over a claimed serial killer with wings isn't the average thing a teenager like her should be interested in. But then again, he isn't really a serial killer… he's just a kid in mourning.

Her mum wasn't very impressed when she arrived at half-past seven—claiming to be on the verge of calling for the police. Rin had to fish out an excuse of losing track of time at the library and getting a snack from the convenience store; which wasn't the best, but she managed to get away with it, just scraping the surface of her tooth.

Rin finds herself doodling people with wings in Maths class on Monday. She sits at the back anyway—the teacher doesn't really take notice of her. And when class finishes, her friend Miku comes bounding over to try and stick her face into her business. Rin scrambles to cover up the page, blushing madly.

"Ooh, whatcha drawing there, Rinnie? Your boyfriend?" Miku asks, trying to tilt her head to see past Rin's hands.

"N-no," Rin stutters out, feeling as if her face is on fire.

Miku grins, nudging her as she closes the book hastily. "Who's the lucky guy?" she whispers, wiggling her eyebrows.

"There's no lucky guy!" Rin exclaims.

Miku pouts at Rin's embarrassment, following after the flustered blonde as she moves to her locker. "You're going to have to tell me _someday_, Rinnie," Miku says to her. "It's inevitable. Word gets around in this town quite quickly, I say." Her friend wiggles her eyebrows once again.

Rin bites her lips.

"For example, I heard you were late home on Friday," Miku continues. "You may say it's something different, but you were rendezvousing with your secret boyfriend, weren't you? Hitting the bedroom for some sexy fun?"

Rin almost laughs at Miku's absurd ideas. "Miku, I'm _sixteen_," she states.

"Exactly," Miku says. "Half of our grade has done the frick-frack, Rin."

Rin just shakes her head at Miku. That girl is something desperate.

Usually on Monday afternoons, Miku comes over to Rin's house or Rin goes over to Miku's house to hang out since neither of them has club on Monday. This week it's Rin's turn to have Miku over. Rin did want to do more research on Len and stuff, but she would feel bad turning down their traditional study session for that reason.

As they're passing the edge of Hane forest, it piques Miku's interest and she leans into to Rin, whispering, "So did you look up that stuff on Karasushounen?"

Rin frowns. "Yeah, a little," she says. "Why?"

"So what do you think?!" Miku asks, excited.

"I don't know, the documentaries in the library seemed ludicrous," Rin lies, glancing at Miku.

"Ludicrous?! In what way?! They were written by a famous scientist—what's his name, _er -_"

Rin cuts Miku off. "I mean, it's like I was reading those child, mock-documentaries—like the one about dragons," Rin pauses, before putting on a deep voice like the one they use in educational TV shows, "_This sparkly gem is the remains of a dragon's faeces, and next to that is the last scale left from a dragon 700 years ago -_"

Miku rolls her eyes. "Alright, alright, so you don't believe it," she mumbles. "Gosh, you're such a party-pooper, Rin."

They walk in silence for a while, before reaching Rin's driveway.

"I never said I don't believe it," Rin mentions offhandedly. "Those documentaries are just full of lies and misunderstandings."

"Alright, super genius RinRin, how about _you_ write a correct one, considering you know oh-so much about Karasushounen and his companions," Miku replies, her voice dripping in sarcasm, as they began climbing the stairs to the front porch of Rin's house. Miku pauses, though, her eyes catching something. "Hey, are those fake?"

Rin follows Miku's gaze and sees her looking at the garden, where Rin's flowers seemed to be growing exponentially. "Oh, them? No," Rin says. "I think I planted them over some ancient, magical dragon shat or something." Miku just pulls a face and Rin raises her hands at her friend, wiggling her fingers, while mouthing the word, "Magic."

"That's so weird," she says, sighing.

_Trust me_, Rin thinks, _I know._

Once they get inside, Miku makes herself at home underneath the kotatsu in Rin's bedroom. Rin makes some tea and returns. "Man," Miku says. "I am not looking forward to this year's winter. Apparently it's going to hit record lows. Global warming my ass."

"Don't they say that every year?" Rin asks, pouring the green tea into Miku's cup. "It gets so cold I can't tell the difference anymore."

Miku exhales, stretching her arms out. "Beats me," she murmurs. "I just hope every year I don't freeze to death walking to school."

Rin shakes her head, smiling to herself. "You won't." Miku just needs to wear more clothes—she has a habit of underdressing all the time.

They start by doing their English homework, which is a pain in the backside. Every now and again a small conversation might start up, but then die down as they are buried with concentration. After about an hour and a half, Miku starts, "So there's this guy…"

Rin lifts her head slightly, to see her friend blushing a little.

"I ran into him the other day. Literally—he seemed to be in a rush for something. But he was _so_ cute; I'd never seen him before, actually. Maybe he was from out of town, visiting a relative? I don't know… but _man_, was he a dreamboat."

"Did you get his name?" Rin inquires.

"Uh yeah, I did. We started talking a little, but then he had to rush off, saying he had to go meet up with his friends or something. His name was Kaito," Miku answers.

Rin freezes. She has a feeling…

Nah, that wouldn't be him. Probably a coincidence. After all, he would have _wings_.

Miku notices Rin's silence. "What's up? Do you know him or something?"

"Oh, no," Rin denies, maybe a little too fast. "Sorry, I just lost my trail of thought."

Miku raises her eyebrows, but brushes off her suspicion. "He was tall and sort of buff—but not too buff, you know? I wanted to talk more with him. I saw him heading off in the direction of your suburb, I was just wondering if you knew anything about him—like he might be staying here or something."

Rin thinks, tapping her pen against her chin. "I haven't heard anything about a Kaito. What does he look like?"

Miku bites her lip in thought. "Like I said—tall, buff-ish… he has like, blue hair and dark blue eyes -"

"_Blue_ hair?" Rin echoes, feeling her stomach drop.

Her friend looks at her curiously. "Yeah? What, have you seen him around?"

Rin hesitates. "Maybe…" _In Hane forest,_ she mentally adds. But how…?

Miku seems to get this burst of excitement, sitting up straight and leaning over. "Where? Where about? Have you talked to him? Do you know where he might be staying?" she questions.

"No?! I think I've maybe seen him around town in the distance," Rin lies, leaning away from Miku, who's growing too close.

Miku's shoulders sag. "Aw man," she sighs. "I was hoping I could stalk him or something."

Rin snorts at the remark, but says nothing.

Their conversation seems to end there.

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Miku convinces Rin to go out on the weekend to the cinema, when in reality; she's probably just finding an excuse to find the suspicious… 'Kaito'. Rin hasn't been to the forest in over a week, nor heard anything about the Alati—she's a little disappointed, in a way she wanted to see Len again and maybe talk more, but that was dangerous and unlikely.

She's forced to see one of those soppy romance movies with Miku, who sits there and wails most of the time, making it impossible for her to hear what's actually happening on the screen. Eventually, it wraps up by killing one of the main characters, as they do, which makes Rin even feel a little depressed. They leave the cinema in down moods, and decide to head off to a restaurant for some lunch.

Just as they decide a noodle restaurant, Miku grabs Rin's arm abruptly and screeches, "It's _him_!"

Startled, Rin looks over in the direction Miku's staring—or more, ogling—to see… surprise, the exact Kaito Rin had met over a week ago. But how the heck does he have no wings? Rin frowns, confused. Miku immediately starts dragging Rin over to Kaito, who seems to be walking away, his hands full of… grocery bags?

Abruptly, Rin stops walking, causing Miku to almost fall over and face-plant the ground. "What are you doing?" Miku exclaims. "We're losing him!"

"He looks busy," Rin mentions nervously. She doesn't want to have to engage in conversation with him… in case he says a thing and Miku finds out something she shouldn't. "Maybe he has something to do, Miku—we shouldn't get in his way."

Miku groans. "Can we at least _follow_ him? For a while? I might get to find out where he lives!" she reasons.

_She'll be surprised when she finds out he lives in a freaking forest_, Rin muses. _And he's also a mutant angel._ Reluctantly, Rin says, "Fine. Only for a while. I don't want to get caught or anything."

The tealette is ecstatic with the response and continues to drag Rin through the town, following after a fast-paced Kaito. After one stop at a convenience store on the same road that leads to Rin's house and past Hane forest, he takes a detour down a quiet park with a few children playing in it. On the opposite side of the park are houses that back up against Hane forest. He goes straight in that direction.

"So he lives down here?" Miku whispers, as they ducked behind various house's fences and bushes, trying to be quiet. Suddenly, he turns down a small gravel path, which inevitably leads to an opening in the forest. Rin notices Miku frowning. "I never knew they had houses literally _in_ the forest. Wouldn't that be… creepy?"

Rin doesn't respond, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. Soon they're immersed by tall trees and plants, and Kaito disappears into the woodland. The gravel path they were following has disappeared into the plant matter covering the ground.

Miku seems insistent on continuing, but Rin stops again, holding her ground. "We shouldn't go any farther, Miku," she says. "I can't even see him anymore."

Her friend grimaces. "We probably took a wrong turn—maybe if we go back we might find another path and he might've gone down that one," Miku insists.

Rin shakes her head. "It's dangerous—it isn't worth the risk of getting lost trying to find your dream guy." She glances around warily. She has a feeling someone's watching them. "I'm hungry, and my toes and fingers are so numb I feel as if I'm going to get frostbite."

Miku sighs reluctantly. "This blows," she mumbles. "Alright, let's head back."

They turn around and start heading in the direction they came from. "Maybe you should ask him where he lives next time you see him," Rin says. Miku just pouts.

"It's sort of weird that he lives in the middle of Hane forest," she says. "Like, do you think he's a scientist studying the you-know-what's? That would be so cool."

Rin raises her eyebrows. "You-know-what's? Dragons?"

Miku hits her in the arm playfully. "You know… _A_…"

"Yes, yes," Rin waves her hand dismissively, already knowing what she meant. "Let's just hurry and get out of here. This place is freaky."

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She's there, in amongst it all. In her mouth she tastes blood, and a warm liquid seeps through her fingers as they clutch at this pulsating, gaping wound in her chest. Her mind feels fuzzy, probably from the cold, causing her body feel numb from head to toe. In the dim light she sees _him_, to her right, screaming and punching and kicking and stabbing.

Somehow, she's not afraid. Because he's here. And that's okay.

He stops once the writhing body goes limp, the life gone. It's silent, mostly silent—the only sounds she could now hear are her frantic breaths, dimmed out, and his sobs. He moves over to her side, this look of fear in his eyes, as he moves her hands away from her chest to examine the wounds.

"Fuck," she hears him curse. If her mouth weren't so full of blood, she would've lectured him.

His hands cover the largest wound, hoping to stop the blood—but it just keeps coming out. It hurts, it really hurts, and every intake of breath makes her body shudder from the pain. But what hurts the most is his expression, he looks so scared, so worried, so unsure—and she knows he's just as afraid as she is.

"Len," she whispers his name, cringing from the pewter taste in her mouth. She wants to smile, to tell him everything is okay. She knows it isn't. He knows it isn't. "Len, don't cry."

But he does. He whimpers this small noise. She's never seen him this way—this way since their parents had died. He'd always acted tough and arrogant and would at times be obnoxious towards her. But now all she sees is his panic.

Maybe it's the bitter cold, but the pain starts slipping away, becoming numb, like everything. Black spots begin to hover in front of her eyes, and she starts to feel dizzy, like she's going to pass out.

He sees this, her faintness, and starts to freak out, reaching out to cup her cheek in his hand. It feels warm, very warm, almost like he's on fire. "No, no, no, no," he mumbles. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no…" He leans forward, burying her face into his chest.

Warm, yet it seems so far away. It's like time itself is slowing down, everything narrowing down and stretching out and becoming distorted. She can't feel her limbs anymore, just nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

He pulls away, staring at her. His expression hardens, his hand touching her face—or, or somewhere, she doesn't know—as his mouth starts moving. She can't seem to hear it though. She can't hear what he's saying.

His mouth, it keeps moving, moving, repeating the same word. What… is it? _In?_

…_in?_

…_in_.

…_Rin._

…_Rin_?

_Rin!_

I'm sorry.

_Rin!_

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

"_Rin!"_

Rin's eyes shoot open. Miki is crouching over her, and man, her head really freaking hurt. Her friend's face is painted with worry. "Rin… you're finally awake," she says, sounding relieved.

"What… happened?" she mumbles, trying to sit up.

Miki pushes her back down. There are other curious faces peering over at her. She spots Miku's, too. "You just passed out in the middle of the corridor. Like, you just dropped down all of a sudden. It was really scary."

In the background, she hears someone yell, "I called a teacher!"

That's right… Rin was walking with Miki and Miku, and then all of a sudden… nothing? Her head ached. Well, she _did _feel a little off-colour today and assumed it was nothing—she didn't think she would actually _faint_.

Her cheeks feel hot, but the rest of her body feels cold. Strange. She must have a temperature…

A teacher comes and helps Rin to the sick bay. She gets sent home in the end, so for the rest of the day she sleeps, but feels not-all-there, her thoughts jumbled and the room spinning. It isn't like Rin to get sick… but luck mustn't be on her side this time.

For the remainder of the week, she stays in bed and sleeps.

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"Rin, what are you looking at?" someone asks.

Rin lifts her head from her hand. "Uh…?" She has a feeling there is a decent amount of drool smeared right across her face. Her mother stands behind her, frowning. Rin's assuming she's been in this position for at least an hour; sleeping in the chair on the porch, that is. "I'm sorry, I just… I was looking at the garden, then I…?"

Lily smiles. "Is sleeping becoming your new hobby now? I don't even know how you managed to fall asleep in that position."

Rin blushes. "I can't help it…" Truthfully, she can't at all. For the last few nights, ever since she was sick, she's been having strange nightmares that'd make it almost impossible to go back to sleep after. She doesn't know why it's happening, or what the nightmares even mean—she just wakes up to find herself crying, confused, unable to make sense of her horrible feelings.

If it can't get any creepier, Len keeps appearing in the dreams. It just… It doesn't make sense. All she wants to do is sleep soundly for once.

Her mum sighs. "You shouldn't be outside sleeping when it's so cold… You could get sick again, Rin," she lectures.

"I know… I'm sorry. I'll come inside in a moment," Rin says. The fresh air out here is the only thing that seems to keep her mind clear.

"Alright." Her mum disappears back into the house. Rin rubs her eyes, yawning. Her wrist and neck feel stiff from sleeping in such an awkward position.

She stands and packs away the books she had been reading before—some more studies about the mysterious Alati and their history she found the other day. As she's stacking them, ready to take back inside, she checks the garden, still wondering how on earth her flowers are growing. The word _magic _mocks her in her mind and she smiles to herself slightly. Psh, magic.

Rin turns to head back inside, barely missing a face peering at her through the trees across from her house—it disappears almost immediately. But she shakes it off, blaming it on her lack of sleep.

Hopefully she'll stop having those nightmares and be able to sleep in peace for once…

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_Snow._

It drifts down lazily over the front yard, covering the ground in a cold, white sheet. Rin sighs, pulling on her jacket. Winter seems to have arrived early. That usually happens every year, though. The only thing separating the early winter from the actual winter is that you can't seem to walk more than five metres outside without drowning in snow.

She likes the snow, but sometimes she just gets bored of freezing her butt off constantly.

"I'll be back around four," Rin calls over her shoulder, tightening the scarf on her neck and slipping her feet into some boots.

Her mother pokes her head around the doorway of the kitchen. "Okay. Keep safe and don't stay out in the cold too long," she tells her. "Call me if there's any trouble."

"Will do." Rin smiles reassuringly, even though her heart's thundering away in her chest nervously. She lied to her mum earlier saying that she was going to go to the library—but she very well isn't. It's taken over a month to summon up the courage to do this. And there's no way in hell she's going to back down now.

She slips out of the house and into the bitter cold air. Carefully, she makes her way down to the front gate, past the garden where her flowers had inevitably frozen, and unlatches it, stepping onto the footpath smeared with small piles of snow.

Rin isn't so sure about whether this is a good idea. She isn't so sure about how _he'd_ react, but she desperately wants to talk to him—she isn't so sure whether she's infatuated with the Alati itself, or just completely mental—but regardless, she's going to risk it and venture into Hane Forest on her own, hoping he would show up.

Her nightmares had stalled a week or so ago, but she still has a few brief ones every now and again, where she would find herself wide awake, staring at the ceiling, feeling like her chest was being squashed by an invisible weight. They're still weird as per usual, and Len is occasionally in them, staring at her with his penetrating azure eyes. She has a feeling, maybe if she talks about it to Len, maybe they might just disappear, like her mind has just been collecting all these dark things, and speaking about those things would set them free.

Rin shivers, crossing the road to Hane Forest, checking over her shoulders to make sure no one's watching. If people saw her taking regular visits to the forest like it's no big deal, surely some sort of rumour would likely get out, getting her into trouble—and she _really_ despises being lectured by her mum. Nevertheless, even if no one is present to see her, she constantly feels like a pair of stern eyes is keeping watch on her.

Ah, paranoia.

She steps into the trees, carefully weaving her way through the obstacles of fallen branches and rocks and whatnot. Occasionally, she scratches a mark into the trunk of a tree for referral when finding her way out. About ten minutes pass and a thought strikes her as while she progresses deeper into the woods—how actually is she supposed to find Len? Or… _anyone_? Do they have a secret call or does she have to stand there in the cold and wait forever until someone comes across her? She stops walking to dwell on that thought, suddenly being confronted by the twisting and turning of her stomach. Man, this… is a stupid idea. What was she expecting to happen? For Len to just be waiting for her? For him to be able to read minds?

Rin shudders from the sudden rush of cold due to her lack of movement. Her eyes glance back and forth between the trees hanging over her head, scanning the mist which makes it impossible to see more than six metres ahead. This… was a really, awfully planned idea indeed.

Trying to stop the chattering of her teeth, she takes a careful step back, ready to turn and head back home when—

A scream escapes her lips as she crashes into someone's chest. She stumbles backwards slightly, her eyes coming across an abominable… _Kaito?_ The said boy frowns at her as tears of relief start to blur her vision.

"What'd I do?" he asks in confusion, rustling his grocery bags, as she whimpers, wiping her face.

Rin just laughs gingerly from humiliation. "Nothing… I just got a fright. I thought you were a stalker or something," she says.

Kaito just frowns again. He sure does frown a lot. "Speaking of which, why are you here alone? Again?" he queries. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Not to mention, it's really cold."

She feels her cheeks turning pink. "I-I could ask the same thing." She hopes he can't hear her teeth clacking against each other.

The blue-haired boy lifts up the bags he's holding. "I do shopping every Sunday afternoon for us," he explains.

"Us?" Rin echoes.

"Yes, _us_," he responds, looking a little confused. "Um… you know, what's that name you call us? Amani?"

Rin makes an 'o' shape with her mouth. "You mean Alati? You buy the groceries for everyone? …So you guys like, eat human food?"

Kaito gives her a very unimpressed expression. "Our diets are exactly the same as yours. Minus the takeaway food you 'humans' tend to worship." He does the bunny ears with his fingers. "What did you think we eat? Soil?"

Ashamed, Rin looks down. _Human brains_. "Um, I don't know," she says quickly. She glances back up to see him frowning once again. Immediately, she notices something out of place. "Wait… where are your…"

"My…?" Kaito raises his eyebrows, not catching onto her lead.

Tentatively, Rin gestures to her back. "You know… your things," she mutters. (Their _wings_, Rin. Just say _wings_.)

Kaito's eyes widen immediately. "Oh my gosh!" he exclaims, glancing over his shoulder. "They're _gone?!_" Rin isn't sure whether he's kidding or not. She stands there, slightly panicked about his reaction, chewing her lip.

He then sighs. "You're supposed to freak out, too," he tells her.

"Sorry?" Rin answers in confusion. "But really, what happened to them? Do you just make them disappear when you don't want people to see them?" That must be the trick—some sort of illusion, or something?

"Didn't the books ever tell you?" he inquires.

"What books?"

Kaito shakes his head quickly. "Never mind. We don't have to… you know, walk around with wings constantly, if you get me." Rin must have a blank look on her face, because then he hurriedly continues, "Uh, only some of us—Salami?—can really do it effectively, like me. It's kind of like how you humans can be good at putting on makeup—kind of. We can reverse the process of the wing's growth, by manipulating the muscles and bones in our backs to allow the room for the wings to sit in special pockets, so it appears we look human. Basically the process looks like our skin is devouring our wings. I would show you… but it's kind of gross and I don't really like doing it in front of females."

Rin nods slowly, feeling slightly lightheaded from the description. "No, that's fine… I might pass out if you do it. But that's… pretty cool. I guess."

"Yeah, well it really comes in handy for something like this, because I gather you humans won't take it too well if we go striding around the town with a pair white things hanging out of our shoulder blades. I guess you can call it a survival mechanism or whatever," he mentions.

Rin nods again, thinking about it. "I see what you mean… I guess we learn new things every day," she says.

Then Kaito frowns again. "So why are _you_ here?"

"Oh…" Rin blushes. "Well, um… I was just kind of… uh…" Kaito tilts his head, raising an eyebrow. "I was kind of hoping to run into um… Len… I-I guess."

She expects Kaito to be all like, "No! No! That's forbidden against our Lord! You must make an appointment!"… or something, but instead he makes an interested _ah_ sound instead. "What, did you to hit it off before? Are you going to go confess to him?" he asks, grinning flippantly. Rin feels her body heat up and she starts stuttering out a deny, but he quickly adds, "I probably shouldn't joke about that. I'm kidding—did you want to talk with him about something?"

Rin laughs nervously. "Yeah, well, I just wanted to ask him a few things about… you know, you guys. I guess I sound kind of weird but I'm really interested with this whole thing—I don't know, discovering new information about the Alati is becoming a hobby of mine -"

"I can't guarantee Len will be absolutely overjoyed to answer questions regarding us so you can write some story about us since he's such a killjoy," Kaito interrupts, scratching his chin. "But seeing as you're freezing and came this far to come see such a mopey guy like him I can take you to him and _try_ to manipulate him—but still, I can't guarantee he'll be in as such a good mood as he was last time you were here. Lately, he's been really snappy."

"I see," Rin says. "I mean if he's not very approachable at the moment I could wait—I mean this stuff isn't really much of my business, me being a human and all. But thank you anyway."

She goes to step past him, but Kaito holds his hand up and stops her. "He might be in a good mood today—I haven't talked to him yet—so we could at least try." The blue-haired boy smiles encouragingly, and Rin bites down on her lip.

"…All right then," she agrees uncertainly.

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* * *

**woops better translate some stuff;;;**

kotatsu - it's like a little low table (sort of like a coffee table?) with heating underneath and a blanket and it's so fugging awesome I loved them I would live under one if I could but unfortunately there's no such thing as winter where I live sooo...

karasushounen - directly translates to 'crow boy'. I thought I'd use a Japanese name instead of an English one since this is typically set in a non-existent town in Japan because 'crow boy' sounded kind of lame but so does this name I'm srry?

wow ok. this is actually surprisingly long for how rushed and crappily written it is so I'm splitting it into two;;;;; ;-;

I'm sry I can't write fantasy genre without it sounding totally lame (seriously I try so hard but to no avail EVERYTHING SUCKS). boo me. boo me very much.

sorry also if there are mistakes or parts that are sloppily written or parts where my writing style is NOTICEABLY DIFFERENT (I tried to fix those parts god help me). I have reread it several times but I'm to the point of NOPE DONE NOT DOING ANY MORE because every time I read it THERE'S SOME PART I DESPERATELY WANT TO REWRITE BECAUSE I JUST CAN'T CONVEY IT PROPERLY and it's DRAGGING ON FOREVER.

I doubt anyone would read something this long anyway considering you guys struggle to even read my short stories *shifty eyes* as if I have anything to lose people don't usually review my suckiness anyway sigh

**edit: fixed a few mistakes edit: fixed some parts where the wording was a little weird and some more mistakes another edit: even more mistakes I missed when will it END**


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n;** yaaay an update in less than a week I'm so happy. that's a new record for me. and yeah, just another author note at the beginning to state that this story... is ending up a little longer than intended. this actually... sounds familiar *sweats* but not with my past experiences rather with another author? usually I struggle to make long stories but this is just wow. (and yes I spent a lot of time trying to finish this off quickly because I'm somewhat nice/?)

I would really like to get this over and done with before school starts (in like, two weeks ahhhh I'm so not ready for senior year I want to throw myself to the ground and cry) but that might be a little too difficult because I literally am sO NOT SURE HOW to finish this without making everyone go, "what the frying fish diddles." HOPEFULLY I'll work that out soon.

* * *

There's a lodge at the bottom of a steep slope a little farther into Hane Forest. It looks cosy—despite patches of rotting wood on the roof—and Rin is a little surprised to see a place like this in the middle of the forest. She'd thought no one had lived here before, but… she was wrong.

"This place was left over by Len's family. You know, his family technically was like the head of the Alati community before that big revolt. Wait, have you heard of the revolt?" Rin nods. "Well—yeah, like, they were the royal family or something. I guess that explains for Len's bitchy attitude—then again he has other reasons to be such a sourpuss, but, yeah," Kaito explains as they trudge up to the cabin.

He stops to listen out for something for a second. "Mm, is it okay if you wait out here for a moment? I just have to go… you know, check it's okay to barge in," he says.

Rin nods again, and Kaito strides off, disappearing into the cottage. There are some voices, none Rin can identify, and about five minutes later Kaito hesitantly pokes his head out the door and beckons Rin to come in. She rushes in all but willingly, getting tired of being in the cold.

Inside, it's warm and lit dimly with a few lamps, the smell of a fireplace filling the room. There are four people besides Kaito inside—two men, a boy, and a lady with short brunette hair and warm brown eyes, all with large, white wings—and they all look a little shocked at first to see Rin. (That's right, she's a human. Of course they would be a little freaked out.)

The lady gasps, before clamping her hand over her mouth, and everyone turns to glare at her. "I mean," the lady says nervously. "She has very pretty, golden hair."

Rin, unsure of how to respond, simply touches her hair conscientiously and replies, "Thank you…?"

The lady flashes a hesitant smile. Everyone… seems a bit wary. And Rin can understand that too. So she just stands in the doorway quietly, trying to be polite. She didn't really ask to have to meet the other people around… she just wants to see Len. Speaking of Len, where is he?

Like Kaito read her mind, he hastily mentions, "Len is out at the moment—apparently he's unsurprisingly in a bitter mood, so I might have to butter him up somehow." He sees Rin's disheartened expression and adds, "I'm sure he'll be fine though. Meiko and Len don't get along so often he gets into a pissy mood because of her." The lady laugh's nervously at what Kaito says—she obviously must be Meiko.

Kaito sighs and unwraps his scarf from his neck. "My back is starting to cramp up. Can you guys keep her busy for a few minutes? And then we'll go find Len."

"Will do," Meiko replies, before turning to Rin. "I'm Meiko. The one and only. Really—I'm the only lady."

Rin's eyes widen. "You mean, there aren't any other… female Alati?" The brunette nods, smiling somewhat forlornly. Initially Rin thought Len was the only Alati left—but she was wrong—and now the fact that Meiko is the only _female_ left in the species, left to live with five other men sounds… awful.

"That revolt did us in badly," one of the men says, stepping up. He's tall and lean, with brown hair and glasses. "Not only did it throw us into disarray, but many died in battle or fled and also died because of lack of food and water." Then he stretches out his hand with long, bony fingers towards Rin, smiling gently. "I'm Kiyoteru, by the way."

Rin diffidently takes his hand and shakes it.

The other man who has lengthy, purple hair tied back into a ponytail adds, "There were only a handful of us left. Originally there were two female Alati, but one died a few decades ago." He then falls quiet, not bothering to introduce himself. _She must've been… Len's sister…_

It's then silent for a moment, like they're reminiscing the ones who have died and mourning for them. Rin stands awkwardly, not sure of what to do. She doesn't know the dead Alati personally… and she can be a bit of a stone-heart when it comes to these things. It's not an intentional thing—sometimes she just doesn't think things through properly before taking them on.

Kaito enters the room abruptly, startling everyone in the room from the quiet. His wings are back, and he's changed into a different set of clothes. Rin's kind of glad he came in at just the right moment to save her from feeling out-of-place any further. "Alright, let's head off. I have a feeling I know where he is," he says, pacing hurriedly towards the door.

Rin quickly mutters her farewells and follows after him, back into the stinging-cold winter air. Kaito has this habit of being too fast. Every few minutes Rin has to run a little to at least keep up with his speedy pace. But their difference of height doesn't help much.

Since it's quiet again and Rin feels uncomfortable, she tries to strike a conversation. "Um, so how long have you known Len for?"

Kaito seems to think for a moment. "I think around 60 or 70-something years or so—he's about 12 years older than me, and initially we became friends during the revolt."

"Wow… that's a pretty long time," Rin states, not used to such big numbers around such youthful-looking people. "…So you guys don't age, right?"

The blue-haired boy shakes his head. "Well… we pretty much age like normal humans until we get to that… you know, 'change'. We look human too. And then all of a sudden, you're growing wings out of your back and you're being told you'll age only a month every decade. That's a year every 120 years, or something."

Rin frowns. "So essentially you live forever, huh? How nice."

"Not really," Kaito mentions, sighing. "I mean, it's easier for you humans because if someone you love dies you usually don't have to wait several hundred thousand years to join them up there. Look at Len, for example. I'm pretty sure he's become the psycho that he is because all the people he loved has died and he isn't even close to conking it—that's if he doesn't get shot or decide to shoot himself. But even if we do try, you know… that grim stuff, it's a bit of a nuisance since we're, uh, how do you say it -"

"Resistant?" Rin offers.

"I guess that's close enough." He then looks at Rin seriously. "I mean, it did take _a lot_ for the rest of us to all die back then. And Len's sister—well, to be honest, she'd been pretty sickly all her life, so we weren't… sure."

Rin nods slowly. "Len said something about her being unwell."

"I'm surprised he even opened his mouth about her to you. Sometimes he can be sealed shut like a clam, says nothing, does nothing," Kaito explains. "But I don't think a lot of this… you know, really helps him. He wasn't such a cranky ass when we first met—but having both his parents killed in front of him, and then have his sister killed not long after, and then have a whole town start rumours which cause people to thirst for his blood—I think it's done him in. He's like a kettle about to boil over, but the kettle has a fault, and just keeps boiling, and boiling."

She feels really sorry for him. It's pathetic, but true. But maybe he's the way he is… maybe he's who he is now because he is full of… _fear._

"Ah, he's here as I thought," Kaito murmurs, snapping Rin out of her daydream. She glances up to see the blonde boy sitting in the snow up ahead with his back facing them and his head down, legs crossed. Kaito motions to be quiet and she nods obediently. This part of the forest… seems clearer. It's completely silent, apart from the slight crunching of the snow under their feet.

Len sighs loudly, but doesn't move. "Kaito, what is it?" he asks.

Kaito clears his throat and laughs nervously. Even he seems a bit hesitant around Len. "I brought you your girlfriend, Lenny," he jokes, and Rin just frowns at him.

The blonde unfolds his legs and stands carefully, turning around. "Kaito, I've said it enough times already—don't make jokes about -" He hesitates midsentence when he spots Rin standing beside Kaito. His eyes narrow, but his voice softens slightly as he questions bluntly, "What is she doing here?"

Rin understands why everyone seemed so iffy about Len and his mood. Even though he may not seem extremely irritated, somehow his current temper just about rolls off him in invisible waves that turn the air to a giant motion sensor, like if you were to make a simple movement, his eyes would be ready to shoot daggers into your chest.

Kaito then laughs again quietly, a laugh full of dread. "What is she doing here? Rin, what are you doing here?" He seems to pass the baton to her, and Len moves his piercing gaze back to Rin. She feels like backing away and hiding somewhere, away from his stare. It always has that same effect—like he's peeling the layers off your body, learning everything about you.

Her voice gets caught in her throat when she goes to say something, leaving her mouth just hanging open, and her mind shouting, _Just say something! Say anything!_ So she does, and ends up unintentionally blurting out, "I have to go to the bathroom." –which is partially true.

Rin's next option is to run, but she suddenly realises she has no idea where she would run _to_. So she's just freezes up and stands there, with Kaito and Len both looking at her now like she's ballistic, kind of hanging out, waiting for a hole to open up in the ground and maybe swallow her up.

"I can walk you back to the lodge, if you really have to—we have a bathroom there," Kaito suggests, probably looking for an excuse to escape Len.

She then looks from Kaito to Len, who isn't looking too impressed, then back from Len to Kaito, her mouth hanging open like a goldfish. Finally she gets her bearings. "N-no, I can wait," she mumbles, before turning back to Len. "I'm sorry if this is a bad time and that I'm bothering you. I just wanted to talk. But… that can wait. Forever really. We don't have to talk. Ever. Um, I mean—it wasn't really important anyway—I was just poking into something that's not my business -" She stops speaking, realising she's starting to ramble. "I'm sorry."

It's silent for a moment, before Len exhales wearily and takes a few steps towards them. "It's fine. Talking I can do." Rin releases her breath, relieved his reaction wasn't worse. "Kaito, return to the others and sort them out. Make sure Meiko isn't up to mischief—tell her I will be awaiting an apology. But don't think I'm letting_ you _off this easy for now." She sees the look Len shoots at the blue-haired boy, a look which says, _I'll talk to you later_. Rin swallows hard, hoping she wasn't getting him into trouble.

Kaito nods obediently like a dog and runs off without another moment to spare. _Wow_, Rin thinks, _he's so tolerant towards Len_.

When he's out of earshot, Len turns swiftly to look at Rin. "What happened?" he asks, like he expected Kaito or the others to have attempted at cooking her on a stake.

Rin feels she has to answer this seriously. "Well, I went out looking for you but ran into Kaito. But since he didn't know where you were he took me to the lodge just in case you might be around there, but when we got there, we found out you had gone off somewhere. I talked to the others—Meiko and Kiyo…teru? And the rest—I don't know their names. And basically Kaito said, 'I think I might know where he is,' and we came here and found you."

Len presses his lips together and nods once. "Did they say or do anything… suspicious?"

"No?" Rin answers, confused, "I mean, they acted a little shocked to see me—but I guess it's not everyday humans would just make themselves at home in… your cottage thing."

He seems quiet, but then he remarks, "Well, I guess you have a point, but…" He falters. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Rin chuckles uncertainly. "I don't know… stuff?"

"Stuff?" Len quotes, giving her a questioning look.

She shifts her eyes, humming in thought. "Well…" she begins, looking around like she might find a conversation starter just floating in the sky. "I know this is kind of an odd thing to ask, but I'm curious—before Kaito said he had an idea of where you were—and that's here. If it's nothing personal, is this place… special? Do you come here often? And… is it for any reason?"

Len presses his lips into a thin line, staring at her. He does that a lot—just… staring. He turns away from her and walks off, and for a split second she thinks he's rage quitted and is leaving before he tears her to shreds, but instead scrapes his shoe over something at the foot of a tall tree nearby. Rin follows over slowly, seeing he's uncovering some sort of concrete slab hidden under the snow. When he finishes scuffing the snow from the slab, it becomes apparent there are words engraved into it. She crouches down to read it.

_'IN LOVING MEMORY OF_

_LEON & MIRIAM KAGAMINE_

_1803 – 1943_

_DEVOTED PARENTS AND HEROES'_

"Are they… your parents?" Rin asks gently.

Len crouches down beside her. "Yes," he responds. "They were. My sister and I, after the revolt, used part of the money they left over to have this made. It's the closest thing I have to… home." He smiles down at the memorial, it somewhat bittersweet. Somehow, Rin isn't sure what he means by, 'home'. Isn't the lodge his home?

Or is home his way of referring to his past and his deceased loved ones?

"I come here whenever I'm upset. It helps me clear my thoughts—I like to think that they're here with me," he adds softly. "Even though they're not."

Rin frowns at his depressed attitude. "I'm not one who sees the dead… or particularly one who _wants_ to, but I think—no, I strongly believe they're watching over you right now. They always have their eyes on you, to watch out for you. They're always there, even if you can't see them. Everyone is. They're always here," Len looks up as Rin pauses to place a hand on her chest, before tapping the side of her head, saying, "and here."

Len looks away from her face, back down at the block. He's very quiet now, and she isn't sure whether he's upset, deep in thought, or infuriated.

That's the hard thing about Len. He's a closed book—impossible to read, and full of secrets.

"My mum used to say that just after my dad died—before we moved here. She used to remind me whenever I would cry in the middle of the night, when I remembered that he wouldn't ever be coming home from the hospital… ever. It used to scare me how she never seemed to cry much, but now I understand at least a little," Rin continues, worried by the silence. "The thing is, whether they're here or not, I don't think people really want us to dwell so much on their death. If I were to die, right here, right now—I would be happy to see people be a little sad, so that I know they miss me. But I don't want them wasting their lives away grieving my death… because if you live that way forever, you're truly not living at all. It hurts to lose someone. It really does. But it's something that happens. It's something that will inevitably happen to us, too. And we just have to all stick through with it."

Rin swears she hears a small sob from Len, but he speaks too immediately for her to register it properly. "You humans are strange beings," he murmurs. "Some speak so wise, while they're only so young. I could live a hundred millennia and still not say things as wise as you."

"Sometimes it helps to stand on the other side of the fence for once," she says. "Or that's what they say. But we learn from our experiences, which in turn, we teach to others."

Len then looks up to her. He has watery eyes, his tears on the verge to spilling over, and a pained expression on his face. Rin bites her lip, reaching into her pocket to pull out a packet of tissues. "Don't cry," she tells him, dabbing his wet cheeks. He then makes an ugly, choked up sob, gently pulling the tissue from her grasp to wipe his eyes with. "You shouldn't let yourself cry so easily, Len." He doesn't say anything else, but inhales sharply a few more times, trying to stop himself from crying. A few minutes later he grabs his bearings and shoves the tissue into his pocket, to only just stare at Rin again, almost accusingly.

She looks down at her feet and the snow, sighing. "Sorry. I didn't mean to come here and make your day any worse. I really just wanted to talk."

"No… it's fine—I am still a little sensitive about this kind of thing—I'm ashamed I let myself cry in front of you like that, really," he mumbles. "But if you don't mind me asking—how did your father die?"

"Ah," Rin says. "He died from terminal cancer. He was diagnosed when I was only about three months old. I really can't remember much else about it because I was young, though. It was complicated, apparently." She smiles calmly at Len. She doesn't favour talking about it a lot or too much, but it's okay to give Len the gist of it.

Len frowns. "I'm sorry… for your loss, then."

Rin shakes her head. "Don't be. Anyway… let's change from this grim subject. Do you mind if I hook up my friend Miku with Kaito? You see, she sort of has this crush on him because she sees him in town every so often and it's getting _really_ annoying…"

"What?" Len exclaims. "Absolutely not! It's already risky enough talking to you!"

Well, his mood suddenly changed. "I was joking," Rin deadpans. "I know it's dangerous and all… Trust me; I have to put her on a leash to stop her from bounding into the forest after him."

"I don't have a humour," Len grunts, scowling. "Just keep her away from here, please."

_Way to ruin everything…_ Rin tells herself unhappily. One moment they were _totally_ connecting, and now he's gone back to his asshat personality. She didn't even try.

"Well, what else were you interested in talking about?" he asks sharply.

Rin sighs. "If you're not in the mood, I can leave," she reminds him.

Len just seems to get more frustrated by the second. "No, it's fine, what else did you need to talk about?" Either way, leaving or staying just makes him angry. She's already exhausted just from his mood swings. She doesn't know how the others can put up with him. "Rin?"

She snaps out of her thoughts. "Sorry," she mutters. "Um, can I ask a little about the others?" Len raises his eyebrows and nods, as if a _continue_ gesture. "You're… friends with Kaito, right? How did you meet?"

Rin notices the question doesn't please him, because he looks reluctant to answer, his eyes avoiding her face. "Um, well we pretty much knew each other ever since we were born. We only became friends when the revolt started—since it… we could only trust each other then. And it was only inevitable we became closer afterwards, because there was so few of us left."

"Wait," Rin says. "I should've asked this before, but… How old are you?"

"Literally or figuratively?" he shoots back, not looking up from the ground.

"Literally," Rin answers. _Obviously_.

He starts to count on his fingers. _Seriously?_ Rin thinks. _He doesn't even know himself?_ "101 years, roughly," he responds.

Rin stares at him. "Wow. You're old enough to be my great grandfather."

"Well, I'm not," he refutes defensively. Rin notices his distaste and frowns.

"I was…" she trails off, exhaling, and checks her watch. The time read 3:35PM. "Don't worry about it. I should probably start heading home. I promised Mum—I mean, my mum—to be home by four… and it's getting close. So I should probably go home."

Len grimaces. "Very well. I'll walk you back to the exit." He holds out his hand and takes Rin by her arm.

"Right. Thank you." Despite his attitude, he still tries to be a gentleman. She smiles at him, but he looks right past it.

They walk in dead silence back in the direction for her suburb. Rin chooses that time to think about Len and his near-bipolar behaviour. In a way, she wishes she could be friends—and not be the person who just makes him even moodier. She just doesn't… understand him. He's unreadable, unpredictable. He confuses her.

"We're here," he mutters.

Rin glances up from the snow, noticing they had stopped walking. "Oh. Alright. Well, thank you for walking me here. And sorry for bothering you."

Len harrumphs. Still bitter. "You should stop coming here. It's dangerous. I can't constantly keep coming for you when you want to have a rendezvous. It's just… I can't risk anything."

"In other words, you don't trust me." Rin turns to look at him. Len opens his mouth, like he's about to deny it, but nothing comes out. "It's fine. I shouldn't expect you guys to trust me. I'm human, after all. And none of this… is my business, clearly. So, once again, I'm sorry for bothering you." She forces a smile.

Rin turns away and walks off towards the clearing. Len doesn't say or do anything. He's so weird. She just doesn't understand boys. She just doesn't understand _him_.

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"Rinnie, what's with the long face?" Luka asks at lunch, as the four of them—Miku, Miki, Luka and Rin—tuck into their bento. "You look like you've lost your best friend. This isn't normally you."

Rin just laughs uncomfortably. "Nothing. I'm fine. Just thinking."

"It's a boy, isn't it?" Miku assumes, nudging her friend. "Rin, if your boyfriend is being nasty to you, drop him like he's a hot potato—there is no need for a terrible man who shows no love or affection. Boys don't matter. Friends matter more."

The blonde rolls her eyes at Miku. "I don't have a boyfriend." She keeps it there.

"She didn't deny it's a boy getting her down, though," Miki points out. "Her heart must be broken! Seriously Rinnie, boys _suck_ and you know it. Don't waste your time on them." Luka and Miku make sounds of agreement, nodding their heads.

Rin sighs at her friends. Them and their suppositions… "My heart isn't broken. Who said it was a boy, anyway? I'm frustrated. That's all. Some people are just so… confusing. And frustrating. And I just don't understand them or where they're coming from."

"Are you fighting with your mum, Rin?" Luka asks. Rin shakes her head. "Well, whoever you're having trouble with… maybe they're going through a hard time and they're not sure how to cope. Sometimes people take out their problems on others, such as friends or family, because they don't know what else to do. Others maybe take it out on themselves, and isolate themselves from people such as friends or family. Maybe not understanding someone is the best you can do. Not all of us can read minds and feel exactly what other people feel, or cope the same way others do. All I can recommend is for you to be patient, and to always be there for them even though they say they're fine by themselves."

It's quiet for a few seconds, before Miki says, "Luka, you're a genius. A humble genius."

Luka turns pink. "Oh no, I'm hardly. It's just what the school counsellor told me when I was in elementary school."

"Luka?"

Everyone turns back to Rin. "Yes?"

"Thank you," Rin says, smiling. "That helps."

Luka smiles back at Rin. "I'm glad. I hope your troubles with whoever clear up soon."

"Yes," Rin murmurs. "Me too."

If only they knew who she was so upset over.

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It's midnight when Rin's phone goes off. She lays in her bed listening to it, half-asleep, waiting for it to ring out.

But just after it finishes ringing, the ringtone starts up again. Rin groans, sitting up, squinting at the Caller ID—Miku. What on earth would she be ringing about at _this_ hour? God, she hopes she hasn't gotten into any trouble—like getting herself lost in the woods…

"What?" Rin grumbles, keeping her voice low so her mother doesn't hear her talking.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY RINNIE!" someone screams from the other side—so loud Rin has to pull the phone away from her ear. Ugh. Of course Miku would do something like this. "WELCOME TO SEVENTEEN! YOU HAVE ONLY ANOTHER 83 YEARS BEFORE YOU TURN 100!"

Rin groans. "Miku, couldn't this wait until a more natural hour of the day? I was fast asleep and having a good dream until you woke me. It's like—12 o'clock."

"You know you love me," Miku responds. "Anyway, I'm going to sleep now. Bye." And she hangs up abruptly. Sometimes, Rin just gets so _irritated_ by one person…

Just to make sure, Rin turns her phone off completely to make sure her sleep isn't interrupted again and slams it onto the bedside table, before she burrows herself back into her bed sheets, eventually drifting off to sleep.

_Tap._

_Tap tap._

Rin rolls over, pulling her blankets over her head.

_Tap tap._

_Tap tap ta –_

She sits up abruptly and stands, walking towards her window where the tapping seemed to be coming from. Wait, wait—head rush. She steadies herself on her dresser, before resuming her journey to the window. She pulls back her curtains to reveal—nothing?

Rin unlatches her window and opens it, letting a rush of cool air in. She shivers, leaning out the window to look around. No one. Strange. She leans back in, gently moving her window to see if the tapping was due to the wind. No sound. There aren't any tree branches around to be poking at her window either.

She exhales tiredly, trying to let go of the eerie feeling creeping up on her, and slides her window shut, latching it closed. Just as she draws the curtains—she notices something. A white envelope sits on the corner of the sill, tucked in between the wall and the window.

That's… even weirder. She didn't notice that there before. Rin gently tugs the envelope and it slides out, falling into her hand. Written in neat letters on the front is _Rin_. Uncertainly, she slowly opens the envelope and pulls out a piece of paper.

Unfolding the paper, she flicks on her lamp and sits down on her bed to read it.

_Dearest Rin,_ it begins, _I'm sorry for the sudden attempt of communication between us. I realise it has come to that time of the year where you celebrate your birthday. So I'm writing to you on behalf of that._

_My sincerest apologies for being so harsh to you the last time we talked. There are things that have been bothering me, and such things have been causing me to become hostile towards others. It is not that I despise you, and I'm grateful that you show interest rather than danger towards my companions and I. I live my life in fear, so it is settling to find a human such as you who I can feel I can trust in. But please understand that our conversing is dangerous, and that I worry for not only my people's safety, but yours too. I'm not angry with you for any reason._

_Nevertheless, I send my wishes to you on this day—may it be filled with joy. Let us hope you live a safe, long and prosperous life._

_Kind regards,_

_Len._

For some reason, Rin feels like her heart might leap out of her chest.

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She's a little curious about how Len managed to deliver the letter—and frankly how he did it so sneakily that she didn't even see him… or whoever came here to give it to her. Rin feels much happier on receiving the letter and hearing from him, especially earning an apology on top of that. Even her friends notice her uplift in mood.

"You seem much livelier than usual, Rin," Miki says as they're waiting for their order at a restaurant. Her friends decided to take Rin out for dinner on her birthday.

Rin smiles, rubbing her neck. "I do?"

"It's kind of weird…" Miku muses, eyeing Rin and stroking her chin in mock-thought. "I was getting used to glum Rin but now she's all happy again."

"Leave her be," Luka defends. "It's nice to have the birthday girl in a good mood."

The blonde girl laughs. "No, it's okay." Luka opens her mouth to say something, but quickly clamps her lips back together.

"Did something happen, Rin?" Miku inquires. She grins cheekily. "A guy, maybe?" That girl has boys on her mind. _Continuously._

"Oh, nothing of the sort…" Rin answers. "I just heard from somebody I haven't talked to in a while, that's all. It was just nice to hear from them." Just as she finishes speaking, the waitress comes with their orders and they lose interest in conversation to eating their dinner. It stays silent, basically, until they finish their meals.

Rin places down her chopsticks. "_Gochisousama_," she murmurs, clasping her hands together. Luka looks over at Rin on hearing her finish her meal. It's only Luka and her at the table—Miku and Miki had finished just before and went to the bathroom.

"Um, Rin," Luka begins, looking somewhat nervous. She falls silent though, opening and closing her mouth like she's going to say something but changes her mind quickly after. Rin tilts her head questioningly at her friend as Miku and Miki return. "Never mind," she mentions quickly. "It was nothing." Rin frowns at her friend's strange attitude.

Once they're all seated once again, Miku rummages through her handbag and pulls out a small gift bag, handing it to Rin. "It's from all of us," she explains sheepishly. "We decided to pitch in and all buy a present together this time. Since it's your seventeenth birthday and all."

Rin blushes. "You know you guys don't have to buy me presents…" she mutters, opening the gift modestly. Inside is a card and a small wooden box, which has flowers engraved onto the lid. Something rattles inside. Rin, traditionally, opens the card first and reads it, before smiling at the sweet words and thanking her friends timidly. She moves on to the box, lifting the lid up to reveal a golden chain bracelet with three charms on it—a treble clef, a dove and a sunflower.

"Wow," Rin breathes out. "It's beautiful. Thank you, guys." She grins at her friends who seem to have proud looks on their faces.

Miku leans over. "Let's put it on and see what it's like!" she squeals. She seems more excited about the bracelet than Rin is. Miku fastens the chain around Rin's wrist, and Rin holds it up to the light to admire it. "Gosh, it suits you so well," Miku tells her, and Luka and Miki both make sounds in agreement.

"Thanks." It _is_ really pretty, but wearing it… somehow makes her feel sad.

"I saw it in an antique shop window," Miki explains. "And I thought, _hey, that seems so much like Rin!_ So I showed the others and we all agreed to buy it. The shop assistant was even nice enough to give us a discount. Cool, eh? It's like it was made for you."

Rin nods. "Yeah, that is pretty cool…"

Eventually, after talking a bit more, the friends leave the restaurant and bid each other their goodbyes as they go off in their different directions. Rin walks home, thinking, and admiring the bracelet on her wrist.

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Rin and her mother are sitting at the dinner table eating when it goes dark and the sounds of electrical appliances losing power break the silence. Her mum sighs, and they continue eating their dinner in the almost pitch-black darkness until Lily stands to find a torch. "I'll go check the power box," she tells Rin.

A few minutes later, her mum returns with an annoyed expression. "It seems like the whole town has lost power. I'm going to go get some candles from the attic in case this lasts for a while."

Rin stands. "No, I'll get them. I don't want you to fall and hurt yourself." The attic can only be accessed by a pull-down ladder in the ceiling next to Rin's room, and she knows her mother is shaky on her feet when it comes to climbing such an unstable object. And Rin personally is aware that if she herself falls, she won't have such a high chance of injuring herself like her mother might.

Lily frowns. "Alright, be careful," she warns, before handing Rin the torch.

She turns and steps out into the empty, dark hallway, which is starting to grow a little cold due to the heaters having no electricity. Rin flashes the torch up at the roof to find the handle for the ladder, and keeping her eye on the handle's location, pulls a chair out of her bedroom to stand on. The ceiling is a little lower than most houses, but even on tippy-toes, Rin still struggles to reach it with her lack of height. Carefully, she stands on the chair and reaches up, grabbing hold of the knob and tugging down the stepladder. Swiftly, Rin steps off the seat and pushes it aside so she can deliver the bottom of the stairs to the ground.

Rin pops the torch into her mouth and climbs up the wooden rungs on all fours until she reaches the floor of the attic that smells of dust from being left untouched, hoisting herself onto the floorboards. She stands and shines the torch on the various boxes stacked in the small room. She spots a box with a few candles sticking out from the top and shuffles over to it, ducking her head down to avoid being hit in the face with a wooden beam from the low ceiling.

Just as she steps forward to reach for it, she stubs her toe on something sturdy but lightweight, and she hears it clatter in response. "Ouch," Rin says to herself, scowling, as she moves the flashlight's beam in the direction of the culprit—revealing a medium-sized, jewellery box-like item, its contents spilling out slightly onto the floorboards from being knocked over by Rin's foot.

"Rin, do you need any help?" her mother calls from downstairs. She glances over her shoulder and sees Lily's concerned face peering up at her from the darkness.

"Um, yes," she responds, reaching for the box full of candles, before steadily handing it down to her mother. Once her mum takes it, thanking her, Rin casts another glance back at the supposed jewellery box. She should probably clean that up, since it's probably an antique hand-me-down from her mother's great-great-something, or whatever, and if Lily saw what she did, she might freak.

Crouching down to scoop the contents back into the box, she quickly reassures her mum before she asks, "I'll be down in a second, just fixing something up I accidentally knocked over." There comes no reply, so Rin assumes she's out of earshot. She sits the box upright, the belongings inside rattling around noisily, and starts placing the spilled objects back inside. There's a ring, a bracelet—or anklet, a pearl earring and… a photograph? Rin picks up the photo, which looks like it comes from an old instamatic camera, holding it in the light from the torch. It looks reasonably aged—fuzzy, should she say—with a blonde boy and girl in the photo dressed in neat clothes, their faces squinting at the camera with forced smiles. The boy… looks strangely similar… like—could it be?

And then Rin notices something just as _peculiar_—

Wings.

No, seriously. The two teens had a set of very obvious, hefty, white wings.

Something moves inside the attic and startles Rin, and she quickly shoves the rest of the things back into the box, latching it shut. She tucks the box under her arm and clambers down the ladder with her torch, her heart racing. _It couldn't be_, Rin thinks, as she shakily stands back onto the chair and pushes the stepladder into place. She's a little freaked out about how they have a jewellery box with those kinds of things in it, in their attic. And she's concerned over the fact that her mother has something like that anyway—well, if it's _hers_.

Trying to forget the chills going down her spine, she places the jewellery box on her desk in her bedroom and returns to the kitchen to finish off her dinner, her mind full of rushing thoughts.

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She had looked at the contents of the box a few days later, after avoiding it and just having it sit on her desk untouched. When she had opened it and had a proper look at what's inside, there were more photographs, of the same two people, with others occasionally included. The boy—who Rin couldn't stop thinking was Len—was smiling in most of the photos as opposed to his usual glum self. And the girl… Rin guessed was his twin sister. She was also attractive like her brother—with light hair that touched her shoulders, big eyes and a petite body. The pair looked almost like they were angels, messengers sent from heaven.

Apart from the photographs was just antique jewellery—necklaces, rings, bracelets, etc. One necklace caught her eye—it was one of those locket-styled necklaces, the ones where you could put small pictures of people inside. The photos used in the necklace were pictures of two people—a man who looked to be about mid-30s with light hair slicked back from his angular face, and a beautiful woman who looked in her late 20s with short, curled blonde hair. What was more intriguing was that engraved onto the back of the locket were the words _Mum & Dad_. Could they have been…?

But Rin wasn't sure. She was stunned from her find. She almost felt bad for finding something that seemed so… personal. Like she was peeping into a past she probably shouldn't be bothering in the first place. She decided to place the box in the bottom of her dresser drawers for safe keeping, and to make herself feel a little at ease with having possibly a deceased person's valuables in her hands. She decided to leave the origin of it as something to worry about another day.

On Saturday morning Miku calls Rin out to a café for some reason she isn't entirely clear on—only stating briefly, 'to talk'. Rin wonders if Miku is hoping to do Kaito-stalking again, which she hopes she _isn't_; but then again, Kaito usually goes to town on Sunday's for shopping, so that might not be the case.

Miku's waiting out in front of the café, bopping up and down impatiently as Rin arrives. It must be pretty important for Miku to be there first—well, usually Miku is late or the last one to arrive, so…

She spots Rin and smiles brightly, but somewhat nervously. Rin frowns. Miku—_nervous?_ Hell must be freezing over, surely. Or maybe she's going to confess her love to Rin—just kidding. Gosh, she's starting to sound a little bit like that annoying blue-haired guy, too…

"What's up?" Rin asks once she's close enough to be in earshot.

"Oh, nothing," Miku says all quickly, which is a dead giveaway that nothing is something. "Let's go inside, I'm frrrrreezing."

Rin just nods, concerned over Miku's unusual behaviour. _Has something bad happened?_ They step into the café and get a seat towards the back, where there are less people abundant. Miku keeps fidgeting strangely, looking around her like she's paranoid. But she refuses to say anything.

A waiter comes by to take their order and Rin orders oolong tea, while Miku orders hot chocolate. Miku's weirdness is actually starting to make Rin a bit anxious. She hopes she hasn't… gotten her hands on drugs or anything and she's suffering side effects like hallucinations.

A few minutes pass, and Rin asks, "So, you called me here to talk, right? So what do you want to talk about?" The waitress returns with their orders, before asking them if they'd like anything else. Both girls decline. Miku picks up her hot chocolate to sip it, and Rin notices her hand shaking in an intolerable amount. She's surprised the hot drink hasn't spilt all over the table yet. "Um, are you okay?"

"No," Miku blurts out. Then she looks frustrated. "I mean, it's difficult."

"What's… difficult?" Rin stares.

Her friend sighs, setting down her cup. "Okay, so, you know Kaito? The guy we kind of stalked a while ago?"

Rin has a bad feeling about this. She didn't… find out, did she? "…Yes," she answers slowly.

"Well, I've been seeing him in… secret, you know," Miku explains, lowering her voice and leaning in. "Like, I'm sorry for not telling you, but he kind of wanted it to be in the low-down as well. So." Rin continues to stare at the tealette, unsure of which direction this conversation is going. "We've kind of been seeing each other for a while now. And I _really, really_ like him. Like, emphasis on really. He's freaking lovely. And he really, really likes me too… and, well…" she trails off, looking apprehensive.

Rin raises her eyebrows. "And…?"

Miku looks like she's in an incredible amount of pain. "Look, I'm only telling you this because I trust you and I know—well, I _think_ I know that you won't freak out… much. You can't tell anyone about this, okay? Not even your mum. Because she might tell _my_ mum and then I will be in -" She stops when she notices she's rambling, closing her eyes and taking a breath. "Okay, so, well, last week Kaito and I met up as normal, and he seemed _really_ weird, like something was wrong. So I naturally asked him, 'Are you alright?' and he was all like, 'Yeah, yeah, I'm fine… but there's something I really need to tell you.' And the way he said it was like he was going to call off our… you know, thing, so I was like, 'Oh no.'"

The tealette pauses to take a sip of her drink. "But it turned out to be different. I asked him what he needed to tell me and he looked really worried, so like, I was seriously freaking out because this was totally not like him. Then he started saying things like, 'I'm not really who you think I am,' and, 'I've kind of been keeping something from you and I feel I should be honest before this starts getting serious.' And I was like, 'What?' And then he started leading me towards the forest. I started shitting myself because I thought he was taking me there to rape me, you know? But God, it totally was not."

Rin notices Miku looks entirely beside herself—in fact, she thinks her friend is still going through a bit of shock; just by the way she's behaving. "Okay," she says quietly, all breathily like she's run a mile. "This part starts to get weird but as unrealistic as it seems I'm being _dead serious_. Okay?" Rin nods. _Oh great_, she muses. _Here we go_. "He was all like, 'Now _please_ whatever you do, don't run screaming because that will just make _everything_ worse.' I was starting to get second thoughts now. And then he began taking off his clothes -"

She pauses when Rin starts choking on her tea. While coughing, the blonde girl motions for Miku to continue speaking, and Miku just bites her lip, looking uneasy. "_Yes_, he started taking off his clothes, and I was about to tell him to stop; but then he was topless—which might I mention, he was _so_ ripped—sorry, um, yeah, topless, and he just like sighed and turned around to show me his back and there were two freaking massive, gross-looking holes in his back like someone had performed some _autopsy_ and forgotten to sew the wounds back up." Rin puts her tea down, suddenly feeling a little less interested in drinking as the image comes to mind. "I was like, 'Holy shit, he has holes in his back, and I could probably put my whole fist in them and have them swallowed up by his body,'—like it was just… it was just _messed up_. I was about to be all like, '_What on earth is going on?! Are you some scientific experiment or what?_' but he quickly said, 'Please don't freak out. It might make you feel uncomfortable so it's okay if you look away… just don't start screaming.'

"And I just—like, what else could make me feel any more uncomfortable?! He has two freaking holes in his back! But then… his back started moving really weirdly. It looked like… his back was like, about to give birth to another body part." Miku looks horrified at this point as she recalls the memory, and Rin just swallows, feeling queasy from the thought. She's glad he didn't do his… _thing_ in front of her. Miku then resumes her excited whispering. "And you know what happened next? You know what happened? Wings came out of the holes. _Wings_, Rin. I'm not even kidding. He's like—he's an Alati. My boyfriend is an Alati. He has wings. He has _two fucking fluffy things on his back_." She takes a sip of her hot chocolate. "He's so hot. But anyway, after he grew wings and I was trying not to pass out from shock, he started explaining how he was an Alati and all and that he belongs to a group of like, six other Alati—because they apparently all died in some revolution thing back in the day. And then he said he felt like he had to tell me because he didn't want to be dishonest and he wanted to be straight up with it, so he could see whether I was okay with it or not.

"And I _am_ okay with it—don't tell me what he would do if I wasn't—so he was really, really happy. His happiness was so adorable, I felt like squishing his cheeks. But then he told me really seriously that I could not tell _anyone_. Like, he even swore our relationship to secrecy. He explained how it was really risky for him to start seeing me since he's, you know, _different_, and that if anyone found out about us dating or that he was Alati that not only him, but I could be in big trouble. I asked him why, and he said his Alati friend is strongly against a relationship like ours because he's had bad experiences with humans in his lifetime and practically trusts almost no one, so if his friend were to find out he would be like, in shit-deep trouble." Rin guesses Kaito was referring to Len—but she's unsurprised he would keep something like this from him. He would go _ballistic_. "And then he mentioned that the Alati had a bad name from the past due to some mishaps and rumours that went around, so if any, you know, normal people were to find out they could be, like, killed. I asked him if he was talking about that Karasushounen legend and he was like all quietly, 'Yes. Very much yes. But let's just—not talk about it.' It was weird."

Finally, Miku stops speaking and stares at Rin. "You don't believe me, do you?" she then questions, probably picking up on how calm Rin is, considering she just dropped a bombshell.

Rin shakes her head. "No, I _do_ believe you," she insists. Seeing on how Miku seems still a little shaken from what Kaito revealed, she decides to keep her familiarity with Kaito and Len a secret for a little longer.

"Why are you so calm, then?" Miku exclaims—but still with her voice hushed. Rin shrugs. Her friend eyes her suspiciously, but then eventually adds, "So we're meeting again tomorrow. And I really felt like I had to tell someone—like you—because I just can't live in silence about something this big. You just—you have to swear your life on not telling anyone, okay? I'm being serious about this. If Kaito finds out I told you then he would hate me. A lot."

Rin nods obediently. "Okay. I wasn't planning on telling anyone anyway." She knows already that Len would immediately wish death upon her.

"Good."

The two friends then sit in silence, finishing off their drinks, before bidding their goodbyes. Rin watches Miku walk away in the direction for the bus stop, and she turns to head back home. She's still a little confused over this whole ordeal. She feels happy for Kaito, and Miku… Kaito's lucky to have found a girl _like_ Miku who would be so understanding of the whole Alati thing. Yet at the same time… she feels a little jealous. She's not sure why, though.

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**translations**;

gochisousama(deshita) - literally means, 'thanks for the meal' or 'thank god for the meal' idk whatever you like. the Japanese say it after their meals, or after meals another has cooked them to show gratitude. it's sort of like grace... but afterwards. heh

(if I missed anything let me know because I'm a forgetful twerp)

blughghghh. I'm praying desperately this ends at four chapters (I don't think I can write any more anyway because like these chapters are ungracefully long). if I were to split it into around 2,000 words per chapter it would be like sixteen chapters long (wow. okay. I don't really. what. excuse me but why can't this happen on _all_ my brilliant /not/ ideas I could be _farmoose_ *angry yell*).

I wanted to leave it with a cliff hanger but I'm really terribly lame at that and I'm sorry that this wasn't as interesting as the other thing. next chapter should be plentiful angst. and confusion. and like, romance because this is obviously a romance story? ehem.

and right now I'm blown away I looked at this and it had 2 reviews and now it had 4? was it because I complained? I'm sorry. but yeah. thank you guys a lot. it really gave the boot up my buttocks with continuing this thing. (I also removed my other multi-chap story 'thoughts' since it probably won't be touched for a while since this story so I'm getting PRETTY SERIOUS)

so like a good complaining author I will do brief responses to your reviews (since some of you are anons and I don't exactly have a choice of messaging you guys):

**Kireina Yume**I UPDATED NOW? *nervous sweating* I hope you liked it.

**mklqueen12** thank you! and no... my other stories are very much not like this (most of them are illiterate giggle things soooo;;; but I hope to have better ones... in the future?) so I'm sorry if I disappointed... or horrified you OTL

**B.L** thank you (: (but I always look down on myself. I look down on myself because I am a god *shines* I'm kidding sorry)

**booP** I am a glad that the length is worthy. and no srsly your review was really lovely and I don't think it's creepy if you review my everything because it makes me feel the love ;u; and your theories are... close. yet, *laughs nervously and changes subject* I'm glad you like this so far and I hope you enjoyed this chapter? thank you great anon!

by the way I just discovered Childish Wars by Giga-P today (idc if that was released a hundred years ago I don't keep up with the Vocaloid things because all they ever post about is Miku or IA or Maika and I just don't?) and omg it's so perfect *hyper breathing* if you guys like Rin and Len as just a normal sibling thing (not incestuous like normal people that I am very much not) I recommend you GO WATCH IT IMMEDIATELY because I just *cries*. other than that I discovered all these depressing romance songs by the two squirts and I just... producers, why. smh


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